Alien: Revelation
by Thagreatuno
Summary: Takes place after 'Alien Resurrection'


[ **Taking place after 'Alien Resurrection'** ]

For the past five years, Ripley has been living on Earth as a nomad, taken refuge in a small despondent city. She makes efforts to keep her presence undetected, but a few inhabitants have befriended her. With help from these inhabitants, Ripley is able to elude random military patrols that often visit. The military have been seeking after her ever since the Betty landed on Earth.

The day comes when the military finally locates Ripley, via a paid informant. While attempting to escape capture, she injures a few soldiers. After giving chase, she is finally caught and placed into custody. Ripley is secured in a restraint device and then placed onto a small shuttle craft **.** The shuttle flies towards a space station orbiting over Earth.

After the shuttle docks, Ripley is taken to a special holding cell. Imprisoned on the space station, Ripley undergoes various scientific tests, to most of which are quite painful. When "experimentation" is finished for the day, she is kept in her holding cell, guarded by armed military personal. She endures these "tests" for several days until a man named Dr. Welden pays her a visit.

Dr. Welden enters into the holding cell, accompanied by two armed soldiers.

He introduces himself and tries to make small talk with her, but Ripley won't engage him. He then decides to try a different approach and begins to answer questions for her. He expresses he won't insult her, by telling her why she is there.

Welden talks about all the data transmitted from the USM Auriga, before it was destroyed. He informs Ripley he's well aware of her super-human strength and her other inherited abilities. The military have taken extensive and costly precautions to ensure she doesn't escape.

Welden talks about how the alien hybrids had such a great sense of cognition. He assumes the trait was inherited, through the mixture of human/alien DNA. He also mourns the loss of the hybrid newborn and expresses how great a study it could have been.

He says that without Ripley, all that data gathered from over the last two centuries would almost be useless. But, with her in their possession, there may still be a way to obtaining the creature, in its purest form.

Welden explains that he understands the creature has a communicative ability which borders along telepathic. He feels Ripley may also share in the same ability, although not as strong as the creature's. He believes this attribute to be essential in finding the xenomorph.

With Ripley's telepathic connection, she should be able to subconsciously locate the creature. Welden expresses it is a radical idea, but very confident it would work. He asks her if she is willing to aid him in a mission, Ripley doesn't respond.

Welden then begins to explain why her body is aging so rapidly, mainly due to the cloning process. He explains that an accelerant was introduced during her cloning. Waiting for a full developed clone, would take half a life time, a luxury the military does not have.

He tells Ripley her rapid aging can't be reversed, but can be stopped with a special neutralizing agent. When injected, the agent will immediately begin to nullify the accelerant. Her cells would then start functioning normally. Welden explains they were very fortunate to find her still alive. All she would have to do is agree to Welden's plan.

Welden then exits from Ripley's holding cell. A science officer named Koenig is waiting for him outside. Welden tells Koenig to make preparations for the mission.

Koenig asks him if Ripley had agreed to the mission. Welden says he's certain she will because she has nothing to gain by dying in that cell. No family, no friends, no future, but a second chance at life.

After several hours of seclusion, Ripley weighs her options and decides to agree Welden's offer. Welden is sitting in his office and receives a call from Koenig.

Welden is informed that Ripley has agreed. A big smile fills his face.

Welden's name is announced on a P.A. system, requesting him to see a General Candance. He leaves his office to pay Candance a visit. Inside Candance's office, Welden is questioned about the sole purpose of the mission. Welden explains his objective is to locate the xenomorph's domain and possibly bring back a few specimens for study.

Candance tells him, a great amount of effort and sacrifice was made to get this far. He warns Welden that his head (Candance's) is on a chopping block and that this mission must be successful. Candance asks him if he thinks the mission will prove beneficial to the military. Welden expresses, the military will finally have the organism at their disposal.

Candance informs Welden he is providing a heavily armed gunship, equipped with 40 of his top soldiers. Their main purpose is to safeguard Welden and his science team to and from the planet. Welden thanks the General for all his efforts and is dismissed.

Inside a heavily guarded medical lab, Welden and Koenig watch as Ripley's body is injected with specially coated nano machines. Welden explains that her body must be immediately placed into cryo-stasis, to prevent her acidic blood from corroding the nanos.

Koenig asks Welden what is the function of the nanos. Welden explains, that while her body is in cryo-stasis, the nanos will regulate her brain functions, particularly her subconscious. The nanos will monitor and collect data based upon changes in her brainwaves and emotional state.

The data will be transmitted to the their transport vessel's navigation. The computer will receive guided navigation based upon Ripley's strongest wave patterns. In essence, it's like using a giant metal detector to scourer the universe, but with the frequency set to finding the creature.

Soon, Ripley's body is placed into a special stasis chamber. Welden questions Koenig about preparations made for the mission. Koenig explains, there will be two teams carrying out the mission. The teams are comprised of high-level science officers and a military unit. The two teams will travel via a military transport vessel.

A science officer then informs Welden regarding Ripley. He says all seems to be working well. The nanos are currently regulating Ripley's brain functions. The officer expresses that her brain waves are maxing over the limits of any normal human being. Welden tells him that Ripley isn't exactly… human.

A large military ship called the "Gantry", slowly travels deep into outer space. It heads towards what seems to be remains of the planetoid, LV-426. As the Gantry passes near the planetoid, Ripley's nanos begin to pick up faint readings from her brainwaves. The Gantry's navigation begins to change course. Stronger wave readings begin to appear, as the vessel travels deeper into space.

The Gantry continues to travel until, it reaches what appears to be a large planet, surrounded by an asteroid belt. The science staff and military unit are awakened from hyper sleep and preparations are made underway.

While during a military briefing and weapons/equipment check, an atmosphere probe is launched towards the planet's surface. As the probe reaches the planet, readings are received and transmitted. The probe indicates the planet to be rich in oxygen, hydrogen along with a steady temperature of over 92 degrees Fahrenheit.

Welden explains, there seems to be no use for any life support equipment, being the planet is flourished with oxygen. All visual transmissions from the probe appear interrupted, due to the asteroid belt surrounding the planet.

The science team is astounded by the readings. They begin to wonder how a planet with such a rich environment, has remained undiscovered. The military team have assembled themselves and begin to select which soldiers are to remain aboard the Gantry.

The science team is prepped and Welden tells a Commanding Officer named Cormack, that Ripley is accompanying them to the planet. Cormack asks why, since he was informed she is quite dangerous. Welden explains that Ripley is the only one who can easily locate the alien.

Cormack is hesitate and begins to think on this decision. Welden says General Candace wouldn't be happy to hear the mission was hindered, by one of his top officers. Cormack then decides to grant Welden his request. Welden informs his science staff to awaken Ripley from her cryo-stasis. He tells Koenig he wants him to remain aboard the Gantry.

Koenig asks Welden if taking Ripley along is a safe idea? He assures Koenig that Ripley is powerless. Where can she go? What can she do? She is basically out numbered and out-armed. Koenig asks him, what if things go wrong? Welden tells him, if that happens, she will be killed.

The science staff and soldiers board two small shuttles separately. Ripley is placed onboard the "science shuttle". Ripley is wearing arm restraints and chaperoned by two armed soldiers. The shuttles exit from below the Gantry and fly out, into space. The shuttles skillfully weave in and out through the asteroid belt, steadily flying towards the planet's surface.

After breaking thru the planet's atmosphere, the landscape becomes visible. Amazement captures the shuttle pilots as the planet appears as a "global jungle", filled with enormous amounts of plant life, streams, volcanoes. Welden gets up and looks over the pilot's shoulder and marvels over what he sees. He describes the planet's appearance to be equal to Earth's Jurassic period.

After a few minutes of flying over the planet, the pilot asks Welden where does he want the shuttle to land. Welden tells the pilot, Ripley will guide him. The pilot then informs the other shuttle to follow his lead. Welden asks Ripley to come over and guide the pilot on where to land. Ripley refuses to stand up.

One of the armed soldiers nudges her with his weapon, telling her to go on.

She slowly stands up and walks over to Welden. She stares at him for a few seconds, then looks away and closes her eyes. She then directs the pilot on where to land the shuttle.

The pilot lands near a mountain-like area, sparse with plant growth.

After both shuttles have landed, Welden looks out of the cockpit window and sees a cave like structure, located about 200 feet away. Welden asks Ripley if the cave

leads to the alien's nest and she agrees. The pilot contacts the "military shuttle" and confirms their destination has been reached.

The pilot then requests permission to allow the science staff to exit their shuttle. He is informed, permission will be granted after the military unit has secured the area. The soldiers quickly assemble themselves and begin to exit their shuttle. The military unit, with weapons drawn, rapidly spread out and begin to survey the area.

The soldiers confirm it is safe for the science team to exit their shuttle.

Ripley, still in her restraints, is escorted off the shuttle by her armed chaperones. Welden and the science officers follow behind, carrying several 3 foot tall, transparent cylinder shaped objects. The cylinders appear to be a type of portable containment device.

Ripley is instructed to lead the science team and soldiers into the alien's domain. She heads to the cave's entrance and tells Welden she senses the aliens are inside. The 1st Unit of soldiers prepare their motion detectors and infrared lighting equipment, then proceed into the cave. One of the 1st Unit soldiers reports the cave to be pretty easy to maneuver through.

No activity seems to be detected and the cave is quiet as a tomb. Cormack instructs the 1st Unit to hold their position, while a 2nd Unit cautiously escorts Ripley into the cave and the science team following behind. They quickly meet up with the 1st Unit and begin to survey the interior of the cave.

The group proceeds deeper into the cave and discover molten rock along the walls. They realize they have entered into a semi-dormant volcano. As they travel deeper, the temperature increases. The walls of the cave begin to change, as the aliens have clearly made it into their home.

Welden asks Ripley if she can guide them to the egg chamber. She leads them to an area, that breaks off into three sections. Ripley continues to lead the group towards the egg chamber. When she reaches her destination, she extends her arm, making a motion where the eggs are.

The soldiers are a little taken back by what they see, as countless eggs fill the cave. Oddly, the science team doesn't show any sense of fear. The science team quickly begins to activate the containment devices and places them over the lifeless eggs.

Welden reminds the science officers the eggs should be approached with great caution. The science officers take heed to Welden's instruction. Ripley stands calmly and watches as several eggs are secured inside the containment devices.

After three eggs are secured, one of the soldiers decides to take a closer look at an egg. Welden reminds the curious soldier of his strict warning. The soldier turns

towards a fellow soldier and makes a joke, claming he wants to see the chicken that laid it. Upon finishing his joke with a chuckle, the egg slowly opens.

The sound of the opening egg catches the soldier's attention. As he turns towards the egg, a face hugger leaps onto his face. Automatically, the attacked soldier, fires off his weapon and soon other eggs begin to open. A few soldiers try to help remove the face hugger and all hell breaks loose as face huggers begin leaping onto the aiding soldiers.

Cormack gives the order to fire and the remaining soldiers begin to fire upon scattering face huggers and opening eggs. Ripley still seems to remain calm as her two military escorts begin firing at oncoming face huggers. Ripley observes the science officers calmly securing eggs into the containment devices, despite the dangerous situation.

An anxious Welden shouts for the science team to leave immediately. After securing about seven eggs, a few of the science officers begin to exit. Welden watches as the officers carry away the containment units with sheer ease. Cormack orders Ripley's escorts to leave her and to help in the fight. As they immediately rush to their comrades' aid, a pistol drops from one of them.

One of the remaining science officers is having trouble with his containment device and gets attacked by a face hugger. As the officer tries to tear the hugger from his face, acidic blood sprays all over his body. The officer's chest begins to smoke and spark.

When the officer finally removes the face hugger, his face is distorted with portions of an android skeleton showing. He tosses the mangled face hugger to the ground and reaches for the containment device. Ripley watches as the damaged officer makes his escape.

Suddenly, screeching alien warriors can be heard within the cave. The sound grabs Ripley's attention and she gives a slight smile. Welden shouts to Cormack they have collected their specimens, but the fierce gunfire overpowers his words. He decides to take his chances and makes an escape out of the cave.

Ripley sees a scampering face hugger making its way towards her. She picks up the pistol, dropped by a soldier and fires at the face hugger. Ripley yells to Cormack that Welden is gone and they have to leave. Cormack turns to Ripley and sees her holding the pistol. He immediately turns his weapon towards her and orders her to drop it.

Again, she tells him to quickly pull his team out. Cormack doesn't listen and tells her that he gives the orders. He orders her again to drop the pistol and threatens to fires his weapon. To her avail, a face hugger leaps onto Cormack's face. Ripley then rushes over to the remaining soldiers and tells them they have to leave.

The soldiers look around and see many of their comrades, as well as Cormack, "face hugged". One of the soldiers goes to pick up a fallen soldier, but Ripley tells him to just leave him. Ripley and the remaining soldiers, begin to make their escape.

Welden makes his way out of the cave, only to see the science shuttle taking off. Welden rushes towards the shuttle, waving and yelling for it to wait for him. The shuttle flies off, carrying the science team and eight contained eggs.

Ripley leads the remaining soldiers out of the lair. During their escape, Ripley and the soldiers battle a few alien warriors. Some of the soldiers get injured and are captured by the creatures. The surviving group continues towards exiting the cave.

Welden desperately runs over to the remaining shuttle and motions for the pilots to let him inside. Once inside the shuttle, Welden orders them to take off immediately. The pilot questions him about the military unit's whereabouts. Welden exclaims the unit is dead.

Just before taking-off, the pilot receives a static message from the remaining unit, requesting preparations for an immediate take-off. The pilot confirms the message and stands by for their arrival.

The science shuttle reaches the Gantry and the science officers begin to unload the containment units. Koenig heads to the docking area and asks one of the science officers, if their mission was successful. The preoccupied officer confirms it was a success, as the containment devices are loaded onto a transport lift.

Koenig asks what happened to Dr. Welden and the military unit. The officer coldly responds, none of them survived. Koenig then asks about Ripley's whereabouts and mentions her being a 1st priority. The officer corrects Koenig saying that she is a 2nd priority.

Koenig accuses the officer of lying about Welden and the military unit's demise. Koenig orders the officer to send a shuttle back to the planet, in search for survivors.

The officer tells Koenig his direct orders were to bring back several specimens at any cost. Once the specimens were secured, any and all other orders are rescinded. The officer leaves as Koenig watches the eggs being taken away.

Ripley and the remaining soldiers finally board the awaiting shuttle. The shuttle takes off, heading towards the Gantry.

Aboard the Gantry, one of its pilots picks up something on radar. It is approaching the Gantry at high velocity. The pilot automatically assumes it is the military

shuttle, but its flight trajectory does not originate from the planet. The pilot sends out a hailing message and receives a response.

The response comes from the remaining shuttle, saying they are making their way towards the Gantry and to prepare medical attention units. The Gantry's pilot acknowledges the shuttle and asks why they are approaching from the eastern side, at such a high rate of speed. The shuttle explains they are heading towards the Gantry from below it.

The unknown object flies within range of the Gantry and releases energy propelled "mine" like objects. The mines magnetically attach to the Gantry and begin to detonate. The Gantry takes heavy amounts of damage and the impacts knock about the ship's crew.

The Gantry's pilot accidentally engages the ship's thrusters, causing it to fly straight into the planet's asteroid belt. As the ship smashes through the belt, it continues to sustain more and more damage. The unknown object flies off as the Gantry enters the planet's atmosphere. The Gantry begins to descend rapidly towards the planet, as gravity takes control.

The military shuttle continues on its course towards the Gantry. To the shuttle pilot's surprise, the Gantry is flying directly towards them. Immediately, the shuttle's pilot takes evasive action and tries to steer clear from impact. The shuttle narrowly skims the Gantry, sustaining extensive damage.

The Gantry crashes lands on the planet and the shuttle is forced to make an emergency landing. The shuttle crashes on the farther side of the planet. Ripley and Welden have a few minor injuries, along with some of the soldiers. The soldiers begin to gather themselves together.

The soldiers begin to ask questions amongst each other, as to what happened to the Gantry. The pilot recalls the last transmission they received, which mentioned an object flying at a high speed. Welden says they need to get to the Gantry to find out what happened.

With the shuttle now damaged, the only way to reach the Gantry is by foot. Some of the soldiers are skeptical about traversing the planet, especially after the events that took place. Eventually, the group agrees that reaching the Gantry is their only option for survival. One of the soldiers wants to free Ripley from her restraints, seeing she helped earlier, during the battle with the aliens.

Welden is against the idea, but the soldiers convince him that they have to work together if they plan to survive. He reluctantly releases Ripley from her constraints. The newly assembled team gathers what supplies and armament they could salvage from the shuttle. A beacon detector-like device will be used to locate where the Gantry had crashed.

Going along with Ripley and Welden are six remaining soldiers Ryder, Jax, Tarot, King, Elvis, Youngheart and the shuttle's pilot. Ryder has assumed the position of commanding officer. The group begins their trek across the planet.

During their journey, the soldiers ask Welden about the creatures. Welden re-directs the soldiers to question Ripley, since she shares a type of kindred with them.

Upon hearing this, the soldiers stop walking and raise their weapons towards Ripley. King asks Ripley if she's really related to those creatures. She says she's not exactly an alien, but shares a portion of their biology. She then turns her back on the soldiers and continues to walk. Ripley tells the soldiers they should ask Welden to answer any questions regarding her.

The soldiers surround Welden and begin to ask him about Ripley. He sees the soldiers are pretty adamant about learning who she is. As the group continues their journey, Welden reluctantly explains Ripley's historical life. He includes all known events from past to present, not to mention the fact this Ripley is a clone.

King then asks why this info was excluded during their mission briefing. Welden says the nature of that information was on a need to know basis, in which they didn't need to know. Welden sarcastically states that their job was to ensure the science team safely extracted the eggs.

Aboard the crashed Gantry, there are a few survivors from the crash. Among the survivors several injured soldiers and a few semi-functioning androids. As the survivors begin to assemble themselves, the sound of something small and quick, is heard scampering about the ship. One of the surviving crew members looks about his surroundings in puzzlement. He is immediately attacked by a face hugger.

After this happens, other face huggers begin to run amuck, throughout the ship. Apparently, the crash enabled the face hugger specimens to be released from their containment.

As the group continues their trek, the sun begins to set. The soldiers understand the planet is basically a global jungle and traveling during the night would be dangerous. Ripley informs the group that she has a psychic link with the alien and can sense if they are nearby. This info settles a bit of paranoia within the group, as they settle down for the night and make camp.

Elvis and Tarot are selected to take first watch. Youngheart goes over to Ripley and talks with her. She wants to find out more about Ripley as well as the creatures.

Ripley asks Youngheart if that is her real name. Youngheart explains it is a nickname given to her by the squad. When she first joined the squad, she was the youngest in the group. Constantly being told she was a young, naïve but big hearted person.

She says the name just stuck and she's been Youngheart ever since. Ripley asks if the other soldiers have any nicknames as well. Youngheart begins to name them.

Ripley tells Youngheart she's feeling a little exhausted. Youngheart says she understands and leaves Ripley to get some sleep.

It is just before dawn and the group is sound asleep. Elvis and Jax, who were watching over the camp, are starting to drift off to sleep. While they are drifting off, something inside the jungle slowly approaches the group. Ripley instinctually begins to awaken as the pilot gets violently pulled away from the group and into the surrounding jungle.

Screams from the pilot startles the group from their sleep, as a giant beast attacks the pilot. Immediately, the soldiers grab for their weapons as the beast emerges. A giant sloth like creature tries to attack the group, but fails as the soldiers' fire their weapons upon it.

The creature is killed and the shuttle pilot slaughter by it. The creature seems to have been attracted to the smell of a few unfinished ration packs. After composing themselves, the group continues on with their journey. The sun begins to rise.

Ripley and the group come across, what appears to be the remains of a large wrecked ship. They cautiously inspect the outside of the ship and questioning why it is there. Welden then notices something familiar about the ship and mentions the name "Antilles". He exclaims to the group that the ship is the Antilles. Ryder asks Welden what does he know about this ship.

Welden explains it was a science vessel, sent out over 85 years ago in search for the alien. This event took place a few years after the "real" Ellen Ripley's death.

Welden recalls the ship and its crew were considered lost in space. There was no indication as to whether they had succeeded in reaching their destination.

The mission was deemed a failure and the military decided against the idea for a rescue, if any one did survive. Attempting to clone the creature, from the original Ripley's DNA, became the military's next best option.

Ripley asks if are they stopping to explore the Antilles, being they want to reach the Gantry before nightfall. Ryder asks Jax how far are they from the Gantry. He tells him just about 2 1/2 miles away. Ryder expresses the Antilles could be housing

something useful, like weapons. He informs the group to be prepared for any hostile encounters.

He orders Tarot and King to look for a way inside the ship. Elvis sarcastically says there's no need for Ripley to worry about a hostile attack, she and the creatures are practically family!

Ripley ignores Elvis' remark while Youngheart tells him, "Give it a rest!" "We're all in this together!" Elvis looks at Youngheart and then walks away. Youngheart explains to Ripley that Elvis could be an asshole at times. Ripley responds its okay, she has met plenty before.

King yells out that he's found something. The group quickly assembles with King and Tarot. King explains they found a makeshift barricade. Jax asks does anyone think someone is alive inside. Elvis sarcastically answers "Only if that person is a living corpse."

Ryder orders the barricade to be removed. While King and Tarot get started, Ripley closes her eyes and seems to sense something. Her mind seems to be filled with strange alien imagery. Youngheart notices Ripley appears to be in a trance and asks her if she is alright. When Ripley doesn't respond, Youngheart reaches out her hand and places it on Ripley's shoulder.

Youngheart's touch breaks Ripley's trance. Youngheart asks Ripley if she is okay and Ripley, responds she is fine. King and Tarot have broken into the barricade with a couple of heavy kicks and gun butts. Ryder orders Elvis to take first point, followed by Jax and Tarot. Within the jungle, someone appears to be watching the group, entering inside the ship.

Koenig slowly awakens. Slightly injured, he stands to his feet and begins to make his way around the Gantry. He sees many of the crew are either badly injured or dead. He proceeds to venture into other sections of the ship and finds a few mangled androids.

Koenig continues to where the contained eggs have been stored. To his shock, he sees three soldiers lying on the ship's floor, with facehuggers attached to them. The sight overwhelms him and he runs away. While almost hyperventilating, Koenig heads toward the Gantry's entry door. Saying to himself, he needs some air, he proceeds to open the door.

While he catches his breath, the door slowly opens. Panting heavily, he slowly raises his eyes. He is greeted by an alien waiting outside the doorway. Koenig starts to panic and tries to close the entry door, but it is too late. The alien rushes through the door as he screams.

Elvis, Jax and Tarot are cautiously exploring the Antilles. Elvis informs Ryder, the insides of the ship aren't badly damaged. There are no signs of any skeletal remains. Ryder then proceeds inside, followed by King and the others.

As the group splits up into pairs, to farther inspect the ship, something watches them from within the shadows. Ripley senses something is inside the ship and expresses they are not alone. Jax assures Ripley the ship is barren and that his motion detector would have picked up something.

Immediately after Jax finishes speaking, a figure springs out and grabs a hold of him. The figure places Jax in a chokehold. A makeshift weapon rests near the soldier's throat. Ryder calls for the group to assemble.

The unit quickly assembles, with weapons drawn at Jax's attacker. As lighting units flash upon Jax, his assailant appears to be human. A man, appearing to be in his mid forties and wearing very rundown clothing.

Ryder orders the man to drop his weapon and the soldiers stand ready with weapons armed. The man continues to hold his position while quickly studying each soldier face. He looks at Dr. Welden and then at Ripley. For a moment, he seems to be mystified while looking at Ripley's face. The man slowly utters "Ellen Ripley?"

Everyone is puzzled that the man seems to recognize Ripley. Ryder asks Ripley if she knows the man and she replies she does not recall him. The man expresses he cannot believe she is standing right before him. The man then loosens his hold and Jax is able to slip away from him. Ryder angrily orders the man to drop his weapon, but the man doesn't respond to the order.

Still fixated on Ripley, the man asks if she really is Ellen Ripley. Ripley responds, she is her…but not exactly. Youngheart whispers to Ripley to ask the man to drop his weapon, since he's so fascinated by her. Elvis warns the man he will shoot, if he doesn't drop his weapon.

Ryder orders Elvis and the soldiers to stand down. Ripley asks the man to drop his weapon and he complies. Ripley proceeds to ask the man how does he know her. The man says he recognizes her face from classified data files, although she has aged quite a bit. The man has an amazed look on his face, as if he has reunited with an old friend.

Welden asks the man who is he and what is his name. The man directs his attention towards Welden. He says his name is Daris and he is a science officer who took part in an expedition to find the xenomorph. Welden tells Daris, the mission he speaks of happened over 85 years ago and was a considered failure.

Daris says the expedition wasn't a failure. The Antilles did find the xenomorphs but other circumstances intervened... the ship came under attacked. Welden

asks Daris to elaborate on this "attack". Daris explains, when the Antilles reached the planet, all seemed well.

While landing preparations were underway, the ship was attacked by an unknown craft. The Antilles received extensive hull damage and was forced to land on the planet's surface. Ryder expresses the same thing might have happened to the Gantry. Ryder then asks Daris what happened to the Antilles' crew.

Daris says the crew died. Those that tried to survive were either killed or captured by the xenomorphs. Some of the crew committed suicide, rather than face such fate. Welden asks Daris how is it he has survived, for such a extensive amount of time.

He explains that as an android, he has no fears and no desires. These particular emotions were not integrated into his programming. He was designed for the purpose of research and study. Androids have a life span of up to 120 years. During that time, he has been compiling studies of the xenomorph as well as the planet itself. He says he hoped that one day, a rescue team would eventually find him.

Daris asks Welden if they are a rescue team. Ripley sarcastically answers they aren't a rescue team, just here to collect some of the xenomorphs. She explains they are in the same situation as him, stranded on the planet. Daris asks what does she mean by stranded.

Ryder explains something happened to their transport vessel, causing it to crash land somewhere on the planet. They were en route to locating it, when they stumbled across the Antilles. They were looking for anything that could be salvaged, not expecting to find any "survivors".

Ryder asks Daris if there was anything left on the ship worth salvaging.

Daris says there is nothing left to salvage. All ration packs have been expired for over a century and the ship is without power. He couldn't send a distress signal if he tried. Elvis asks about weapons and Daris expresses all the ship's weapons are all corroded and deteriorated beyond use.

Ryder orders the group to exit the Antilles, in order to reach the Gantry before nightfall. As the group exits, Welden asks Ryder if Daris could come along with them. Ryder says Daris attacked one of his men and doesn't feel the android is stable. Welden tries to convince Ryder that bringing Daris along might prove useful.

Welden express that Daris has survived for many years. It would be a wise decision to bring him along. Welden says he will take full responsibility over Daris and his actions. Ryder tells Welden, if Daris ever appears to become unstable in any matter, he's putting Daris and Welden along with him.

Welden asks Daris to come with them. He tells Daris, if the Gantry is still operational, he could return with them to Earth. Daris agrees to go with the group.

While continuing their search for the Gantry, Welden asks Daris about his findings on the xenomorph. Daris says apart from the xenomorph and other indigenous creatures, there is another life-form that frequencies the planet at various times. He describes it to be a humanoid-like creature, with a height over 10 feet and seeming to have a high intelligence factor.

Daris says he is not sure what the creature is doing, but it seems to have an interest in the xenomorph. Daris says he also found a black pyramid-like structure, littered with all types of hieroglyphs and carvings depicting the humanoid beings.

Welden asks Daris to describe the structure he has seen.

Daris explains the pyramid is 60 feet in height, with a square of 120 feet. Inside, there is a large column-like structure that stands in the middle of the pyramid. Daris says he is not sure of its function, but the column stands at 8 feet in height, with a diameter of 6 feet.

Welden is very fascinated by Daris' discovery and wants to know where this black pyramid is located. Before Daris can answer, Elvis interrupts the two of them and says their goal is to find the Gantry and then to get the hell off this planet!

Jax says he is picking up the Gantry's location. He tells Ryder the ship is about 200 feet away, just over a ridge. Ryder informs the group the Gantry is nearby. The group makes their way towards the ridge and work together to climb over it. Once over the ridge, the group sees the Gantry in all its damaged glory.

The group begins to survey the ship's damage and nothing appears well. Jax says the ship's exterior appears to be in pretty bad shape. Tarot locates the ship's entry door and calls for Ryder. The door appears to be opened. Ryder states, either someone has gotten out or something got in.

Ryder informs the unit to use their motion trackers and to proceed inside with extreme caution. He appoints Elvis and Youngheart to wait outside with the others, until they determine there is no present danger.

While Youngheart and Elvis stand point, Welden quietly asks Daris about the pyramids' location. Daris mentions the pyramid is not far from where they stand. Its location is below the ridge and about a quarter of a mile off. Welden asks if Daris could lead him to the pyramid.

Daris informs Welden that safety is a 1st precaution, straying away from the group is not a wise decision. Welden explains that he's willing to put his life on the line for the sake of scientific discovery. No one has ever been this close to understanding such a historical mystery of the universe and would like to be the first.

Welden tells Daris, the chances of them returning to Earth are very slim and he has accepted this possibility. But if he dies here, at least he's had the satisfaction in partaking in such a great scientific find.

As Ryder and the soldiers survey inside the Gantry, Ripley begins to sense something. Her mind is flooded with strange alien imagery. Youngheart notices Ripley has a puzzled look on her face. She asks Ripley what is wrong. Ripley says she can hear them... they are all together as one. Ripley then grabs her head and drops to her knees.

Youngheart yells for Elvis to help bring Ripley inside the Gantry. He asks Youngheart what is wrong with Ripley. She says she doesn't know and needs to get her inside. As Elvis and Youngheart bring Ripley inside, Welden and Daris sneak off in search of the pyramid.

Inside the Gantry, Jax, King, Tarot and Ryder continue to secure the ship. Ryder quickly assigns Jax to check the Gantry's control system, while King and Tarot search for survivors. Tarot asks King what happened to the crew and does he think if anyone might have survived. King replies, the crew must be hiding somewhere inside the ship and there is no way would they leave.

Ryder turns around and sees Elvis and Youngheart bringing Ripley inside the Gantry. Ryder asks what happened to her. Youngheart says Ripley went into a weird state, mentioning something about she can hear "them". Ryder says she might be a little dehydrated due to their travel and the planet's climate. Elvis begins to give her some water.

Jax informs Ryder, the Gantry's power system is functioning at a 30 percent level. Some sections of the Gantry are inaccessible do to the lack of power. He says he going to try and reboot the system. Hopefully, this will increase the system's functioning power.

Ryder asks how long will it take. Jax responds, maybe hours or even days before the ship becomes fairly functional. Jax says the crash pretty much made the ship incapable of flight. It is only good for housing them until a rescue team shows up. Ryder says it would help if the rescue team knew exactly where to locate them.

Elvis asks if a rescue team will come for them. He doesn't want to experience the same fate as the crew from Antilles. Youngheart then notices that Welden and Daris are not outside and mentions it to Ryder. Elvis runs outside of the entry door and says Welden must be looking for that damn pyramid!

Ryder explains they will have to form a small search party to find them. Jax says to forget about Welden, it was his stupid decision. Ryder says he wants everyone to be accounted for, even Welden.

Daris and Welden reach the pyramid and cautiously approach it. Welden is marveled by its stylized construction. They enter inside and begin heading towards the column structure, located in the center of the pyramid. After reaching the column, Welden begins to circle it.

After studying its markings, Welden asks Daris to help boost him onto the column. Welden wants to examine the top of it, to maybe find something that would explain its purpose. Daris kneels down by the column, allowing Welden to step upon his shoulders. Daris then slowly stands up, enabling Welden to reach the top of the column.

On top of the column are a strange array of knobs and buttons, all designed from the same material as the pyramid. An amber colored orb sits in the center of the column. Welden carefully touches the knob and buttons, hoping for something to happen. He then rests his hand on the orb and the column begins to make a humming sound.

Daris asks Welden what is happening and Welden suggests he has engaged its power source. Welden begins moving his hand across the amber orb and touches the strange buttons. Suddenly, a large holographic image of the universe appears. The image fills the pyramid, displaying countless planets, suns and constellations.

An alien text seems to accompany each planet, sun, moon and what appears to be provinces within the universe. Welden is fascinated by this and wonders what other information is stored within the column. Welden continues to move his hand over the orb and randomly turning the knobs.

Then, a new image appears showing a strange schematic of an xenomorph egg. Welden begins to roll his hand over the orb as other images appear. The image of a warrior xenomorph appears, with a detailed schematic of the creature's anatomy broken down section by section.

Welden continues moving his hand across the orb and the image of a xenomorph Queen appears. Welden's eyes begin to widen as if something was made clear to him. He begins to realize what he has discovered about the xenomorph. Welden tells Daris he understands what the xenomorph is and why its so perfect and adaptable in every way.

The xenomorph is a biological weapon. The creature was most likely created by the 10 ft. beings, described by Daris. The beings succeeded in creating the perfect soldier. Daris expresses, he is certain the group is wondering where they are and wants to return to the Gantry. Welden asks Daris to give him a few more minutes before they leave.

Ripley seems to be feeling better. Ryder has chosen Elvis and Youngheart to search for Welden and Daris. Elvis exclaims Welden is going to end up getting them all killed. Ripley says she overheard Daris speaking of the pyramid location, not far from the Gantry. She says she could help them in locating it.

Ryder asks Ripley if she is okay, she seemed a little disoriented. She says she is fine now and can easily find Welden by his scent. Ryder agrees to let Ripley join the search group. As Ripley exits the Gantry, Elvis turns towards Youngheart and jokingly asks if Ripley was part Alien or bloodhound. Youngheart pushes him out of the entry door.

While Welden continues to study the images, an unknown craft lands near the pyramid. Welden is still standing on Daris' shoulders, when something very large and lumber-some approaches the pyramid's entrance. Daris sees a large shadow at the mouth of the entrance and tells Welden that something is approaching.

Welden tries to hurry down from off Daris' shoulders and looses his footing. He falls down and lands on his ankle, twisting it. Daris sees the large shadow making its way inside the entrance, as he attempts to pull Welden around the column.

Just as Daris positions Welden and himself out of sight, the pilot enters into the pyramid. Daris tells Welden, one of the humanoid beings has entered the pyramid.

The two of them huddle close together behind the column, trying not to be seen. Heavy labored breathing can be heard from the creature as it approaches.

Elvis, Youngheart and Ripley set out to find Welden and Daris. Ripley seems to have picked up Welden's scent and then finds two sets of footprints. Ripley tells Youngheart to follow her and Youngheart jokingly asks if she is part bloodhound.

As Ripley, Youngheart and Elvis track the footprints, she begins to feel something drawing her. She stops walking and asks Youngheart, if she can hear them. Youngheart doesn't hear anything and is she talking about Welden and Daris. Ripley tells Youngheart and Elvis she has to check something out. They can track Welden and Daris' footprints without her. Elvis asks Ripley what the hell is she talking about!

Ripley tells them she has to go and see something and begins to head in another direction. Youngheart calls for Ripley, while following a few feet behind her. Elvis tells Ripley they don't have time for sightseeing. Ripley begins to move very fast and agile, but Youngheart is able to keep sight of her.

Ripley comes across a large hill and begins making her way upward. As she makes it to the top, Ripley looks with great astonishment and smiles. She continues on her way. Youngheart then reaches the top of the hill and softly says to herself, "Oh

no." Elvis calls out to Youngheart, as he makes his way upward. Once he reaches Youngheart he exclaims "Oh My God!"

Youngblood and Elvis watch as Ripley walks towards an enormous Xenomorph hive. They want to call out to Ripley, but fear they will alarm the hive's inhabitants. Elvis tells Youngheart they have to find Welden and get back to the Gantry!

Aboard the Gantry, power has increased to 32 percent making areas in the ship still inaccessible. King and Tarot continue to explore the Gantry. Tarot reports there is no sign of the crew. King reports, they are heading to the docking area. Ryder asks them to keep him posted of any findings.

At the pyramid, the humanoid approaches the column and observes the holographic images. The being slowly walks over to the column and looks around. Welden and Daris try remaining silent and still, as the humanoid peers over the left and right sides of the column.

The humanoid can't find a trace of Welden and Daris. It then focuses its attention on resolving the issue with the column. With a few switches and turns, the being begins to cycle through all of the data stored, within the column. Welden and Daris watch as images of other alien species appear in the holograms.

After humanoid finishes its "system check", it shuts down the power source.

The being slowly begins to walk out of the pyramid and heads towards its landed spacecraft. Daris listens carefully as the creature departs and then helps Welden to his feet. Welden tells Daris they have to get back to the Gantry. Welden places his arm over Daris shoulder and they proceed to exit the pyramid.

Ripley cautiously approaches the hive. There appears to be nothing but absolute stillness and silence inside. As Ripley begins making her way towards an entry way, two Xenomorph warriors quickly swarm upon her.

The two creatures snarl and hiss as they examine Ripley. Suddenly the creatures stop and seem to sense something familiar about her. The two guards settle their aggressions and leap onto the side walls of the hive, resuming their hidden guarding positions. It appears that Ripley has been allowed entry into the hive.

Various alien creatures seem to line the walls of the hive. The hive appears to break off into sections and levels. Ripley freely explores the hive and seems to feel a sense of belonging. She appears relaxed and at ease.

Ripley travels deeper into the hive and discovers a chamber where a Xenomorph Queen resides. The Queen seems to be in a dormant state. Ripley notices the appearance of this Queen is quite different from any she has seen. This Queen is the first of its kind, the original in its purest form.

Ripley slowly walks over to the Queen and gazes upon it. The Queen awakens from its slumber and begins to snarl and hiss. Suddenly, the Queen stops and becomes docile towards Ripley presence. Ripley feels a sense of comfort and moves closer towards the Queen.

Ripley then slowly stretches out her arms and places them onto the Queen's head. After doing so, Ripley and the Queen are engaged in a psychic link. She is immediately bombarded with images and visions depicting experiences through the eyes of other Xenomorphs. The Xenomorphs seem to share a hive mind.

The visions show the Queen watching as the humanoid being run tests on her, witnessing her eggs being taken away and battles between her "children" and other species of creatures. It seems that Ripley's eyes have been opened. She now, has an understanding as to what they are.

King and Tarot inform Ryder there are three shuttles located in the docking bay. Two of which have moderate damage to them and the other is in fair condition.

Ryder asks if any are salvable. Tarot confirms that one shuttle is and asks Ryder, what exactly does have in mind.

Ryder says he doesn't think a rescue team will come for quite some time.

They all must make a decision, to either remain on this planet or take their chances with the shuttle.

Elvis and Youngheart see the pyramid in the distance. Youngheart notices two figures emerging from within the structure. They rush over to aid Daris, as he struggles to keep his balance, while carrying Welden. Elvis tells Welden he hopes it was worth finding that pyramid, because he is going to kick his ass when they get back to the ship.

Elvis gets on the opposite side of Welden and helps carry him. Elvis reports to Ryder, they have found Welden and are heading back to the Gantry. Youngheart asks Elvis how do they explain what happened to Ripley? Welden then asks Youngheart what happened. She responds to him "You don't want to know."

Off in the distance, the humanoid watches as the group makes their way back to the Gantry.

After reaching the Gantry, Elvis makes radio contact for the entry door to be opened. Inside, Jax rushes over and key sequences the door open. Ryder, King and Tarot are waiting as the rescue group rushes in. Ryder asks what happened to Welden's

ankle. Welden says he injured it while inside the pyramid. Ryder then asks Elvis and Youngheart where is Ripley?

Elvis tells Ryder, she got away from the group and headed towards a giant hive or something. Elvis explains they didn't go after her because they might have alerted the Xenomorphs inside. Welden begins to laugh and says Ripley went to be with the creatures, it was all a part of her plan.

Welden says Ripley has sided with the creatures and will lead them back to the Gantry. Youngheart tells Welden he doesn't know if that is true. Elvis agrees with Welden and says Ripley left the group because she wanted to join her "family".

Elvis and Youngheart begin to argue about Ripley's loyalties. Ryder orders the both of them to stop their argument. Ryder tells Youngblood & Elvis to take Welden to the sick bay, to treat his ankle. Ryder says when they comeback, he has something to discuss, regarding the group's chances of survival.

After Ripley's revelation experience, she leaves the Queen's chamber and resumes exploring the hive. She watches as worker Xenomorphs reinforce the walls of the hive, with gooey secretions. Not far from her, Ripley hears a faint voice. She heads toward the sound of the voice and sees a female soldier, embedded in the hive's wall.

The woman is barely alive, softly pleading for Ripley's help. As Ripley looks about the surroundings, she sees the survivors from the Gantry. They are embedded in the walls, some alive, others dead.

Suddenly, the woman goes into convulsion and Ripley quickly turns her attention towards her. She watches as an Xenomorph parasite rips through the woman's chest. The hatching hisses and snarls, after burrowing its way through.

A worker alien quickly crawls up the wall, and carefully takes the hatching away. Ripley then slowly places her hand over her chest and realizes, although she shares traits with the creatures, she is still… human.

On the Gantry, the group is assembled and Ryder explains their situation.

Ryder tells the group they are faced with making a choice. Either staying on the planet or taking their chances in one of the working shuttle crafts. Ryder explains he doesn't think a rescue team will be able to reach them in time.

They are so deep in space; it could take weeks or months to rescue them. Radio transmissions can't penetrate through the asteroid belt, surrounding the planet. There would be know telling where the rescue team should immediately search for them. Their best survival option is to fly off the planet and hope for the best.

Ryder explains freeing the shuttle from the Gantry will be a little tricky. He says the Gantry's system power is running at 46 percent. The emergency hatch doors above the shuttle are still inoperative. His plan is to employ the use of set charges. These charges will be placed on the emergency doors and detonated. If the doors can be blown off, the shuttle will be free to exit the Gantry for take off.

Ryder explains once this begins, there is no turning back. The Gantry is providing a shelter for them and when the charges are detonated, the Gantry will be compromised. They will be exposed to anything and everything. The group weighs their options and decides to go along with Ryder's plan.

Tarot and King get started on plans for freeing the shuttle, while Elvis and Jax begin preparations. Youngheart and Daris gather supplies needed for survival.

Welden attends to his injured ankle and is using a crutch to move about the ship.

Tarot and King are armed with set charges and ascension unit. They exit the ship entry door and use the units to reach the top of the Gantry. King carefully plots out where to place the charges. Tarot informs Ryder the first charge will soon be set.

Tarot says the Gantry's hull was built to withstand collisions from oncoming asteroids or meteors. It may take several charges just to make a decent amount of damage. Ryder confirms and says maybe they need whatever it was that brought down the Gantry.

King says he is going to target an area by the emergency hatch doors, maybe they can find a weak point. King searches for an area to set a charge. He decides to place the charge in the corner of one of the emergency doors.

As he sets the charge in place, he hears something in the sky. He looks up and sees a ship in the distance, heading towards the Gantry. King quickly tells Tarot he thinks a rescue team has arrived.

Tarot looks into the sky and watches the ship as it flies closer towards the Gantry. Just as Tarot is about to inform Ryder of the sighting, the ship quickly flies over the Gantry. It's the humanoid's spacecraft.

The spacecraft startles King and he loses his balance. The ship quickly zooms back over the Gantry, causing a gust of wind force. The force of the gust pushes King off the side of the Gantry, causing him to fall to his death. Tarot falls backwards and his leg gets entangled in the ascension unit's cable. He is dangling upside down and off the side of the Gantry.

The craft then hovers over the top of the Gantry and deploys a hexagon shaped device, the size of a small car. The device lands on top of the Gantry and attaches itself to the hull. It is sort of bio-mechanical apparatus, emitting a low humming sound. The spacecraft immediately flies off and up towards the sky.

Tarot contacts Ryder and tells him what has happened to King. He tells Ryder a spacecraft left some kind of device on the Gantry's hull. He doesn't know its function, but it's emanating an unusual sound. He informs Ryder he can't return to the ship because his leg is caught by the ascension gun's cable.

Ryder tells Tarot to hang on; he's on his way to help him. He contacts Jax and tells him Tarot is in trouble, he's going to get him. Jax confirms and informs the others that something has gone wrong.

Inside the hive, the aliens can hear the sound coming from the strange device. The sound seems to stir up the aliens, sending them into a mad frenzy. Ripley notices a sudden change in the aliens' behavior and she too can hear the device. The aliens began to rapidly swarm out of the hive, heading towards the Gantry. Ripley follows after them.

Ryder exits the entry door and shoots his ascension gun towards the top of the Gantry. He ascends to the top of the ship and makes his way towards Tarot. He alerts Tarot he is there and resets his ascension gun for descent.

As Ryder resets the gun, he looks out in the distance and sees a hoard of aliens, quickly rushing towards the Gantry. He quickly tells Tarot they have to get back inside the ship.

Ryder contacts Jax and tells him to close the entry door. He orders him not open it unless directed. Jax confirms and shuts the opened door. Elvis asks Jax what is going on and why was the door closed? Jax says he doesn't know; it is Ryder's order.

Ryder helps untangle Tarot's from the cable. Ryder uses his ascension gun and they slowly descend towards the ground. Tarot can hear the aliens getting closer to the ship and tells Ryder they're not going to make it. The aliens get closer to the Gantry and begin to surround it.

As Ryder and Tarot drop down to the ground, Ryder calls for Jax to open the entry door. Jax quickly keys in the opening sequence and the door begins to open.

As the entry door opens, an alien leaps at Ryder. He ducks and it misses him. Ryder then starts to fire his assault rifle at his attacker. While holding off some of the aliens, Ryder orders Tarot to get inside the Gantry. Tarot gets up off the ground and limps his way through the entry door.

Once Tarot is inside, Ryder makes an attempt for the entry door. As he leaps to enter in, an alien grabs a hold of his leg and begins to pull on him. Jax quickly grabs Ryder by the arm and tries to pull him inside. The strength of the alien is greater than Jax, he yells for help.

Elvis grabs a hold of Jax and tries to pull him back. Elvis yells for Tarot to fire his rifle, but he doesn't have a clear shot and might hit Ryder. An alien climbing outside of the entry door strikes Jax in the chest with its tail.

Jax gets knocked back and loses his grip on Ryder's arm. Jax falls backwards onto Elvis and Ryder gets pulled out of the doorway. An alien then reaches its arms inside the Gantry, trying to grab Jax by his leg. Tarot begins firing his weapon, freeing Jax of the creature's grip.

Youngheart seizes the opportunity and rushes over to shut the entry door. The group is in a state of shock and can't believe what just happened and that Ryder is gone. The sound of the aliens beating against the entry door brings the group back to their reality.

Ripley follows the aliens back to the Gantry. She watches as the creatures furiously swarm over the ship, trying to find a way inside. She runs closer to the ship and finds King lying dead from the fall. She looks up at the Gantry then takes his assault rifle and a small satchel filled with set charges. She notices an ascension gun still attached to the Gantry and proceeds to climb it.

The aliens continue to frantically crawl about the Gantry as Ripley finally makes it to its top. Once she is on top of the ship, she begins to look around and notices the strange device attached to the hull. Ripley cocks the assault rifle and begins to shoot a few rounds at the device. The bullets seem to do some minor damage to the device.

Ripley then reaches into the satchel and pulls out a detonation charge. She runs over to the device and places three set charges on it. With the charges set, Ripley runs away and lies down atop the Gantry. The charges explodes and the device stops functioning.

The aliens seem to settle down and quickly begin to retreat back to their hive. Ripley watches as all the aliens begin to leave. She then climbs down the ascension gun cable and heads toward the other side of the Gantry. She reaches the entry door.

Inside the Gantry, the soldiers are still on edge. Suddenly, they notice it is very silent outside of the ship. They can hear absolutely nothing. Then, an abrupt pounding on the entry door startles them. It knocks three times and Elvis slowly walks over, pointing his assault rifle at the door. Six seconds passes and then another three more knocks follow.

Elvis asks Youngheart if she thinks it could be Ryder. Youngheart says she doesn't know! Elvis knocks five times on the entry door and two knocks are returned. He instructs Youngheart to open the door, while he stands ready to fire. Youngheart counts from one to three and then opens the entry door. Ripley is standing on the opposite side.

Ripley asks what took them so long. Youngheart exclaims "Ripley!" and asks her where has she been? Ripley enters the ship and says she was busy taking care of an alien problem.

She looks at the group and asks where Ryder is. Tarot says he didn't make it. Ripley mentions neither did King. Elvis tells Ripley to show a little respect for the dead. Ripley says Ryder isn't exactly dead, yet. Youngheart asks if he can be saved.

Ripley says he can't, he will be cocooned, just like the rest of the Gantry's crew.

Tarot asks Ripley if she saw the crew inside the hive. He asks if they are still alive. She says they are dead as well. Elvis says he thinks Ripley is playing both sides. He then points his assault rifle at her and says maybe she lead the creatures there.

Youngheart sticks up for Ripley and says she got the creatures away from the ship, which was more than what he did. Ripley says she got rid of the aliens by destroying that annoying device, attached to the Gantry. She says she expected a bit more gratitude.

Tarot utters "That device." He explains while he and King were setting charges, a strange looking ship appeared over the Gantry. The ship fired a weird looking device onto the Gantry's hull and then immediately flew away. A gust of wind from the ship's departure pushed King over the side.

Ripley says if that ship returns and plants another one of those devices, the aliens will be back. Youngheart tells the group they need to act soon if they are to follow Ryder's plan. Ripley asks what their plan is. Youngheart tells her about freeing the shuttle from the Gantry and flying off the planet.

Ripley reminds her she didn't notice any cryotubes when they first arrived in the shuttle, so how do they plan on surviving. Tarot says they are willing to take their chances in the shuttle, rather than stay and end up like the others.

Ripley then asks about a rescue team coming for them. Elvis says Ryder explained their chances of a rescue team finding them. The team wouldn't know where to look, not to mention all radio and distress frequencies rebound back to the planet's surface. It's that damn asteroid field!

Ripley advises them that the sun is going down. They need some rest and they should discuss this tomorrow. The group agrees.

Later that night, Ripley and Youngheart are talking. She tells Youngheart she didn't know Youngheart was so tough. Ripley thanks her for sticking up for her. She says from now on, she might start calling her "Mighty-heart." They both laugh a little.

Ripley asks her, "With Ryder gone, who is in charge?" Youngheart says she is now. Youngheart says she can't believe she is in charge of the unit. Ripley tells her it is a big responsibility and she knows Youngheart can handle it. She thanks Ripley.

Youngheart asks if the creatures will try to attack the Gantry during the night. She says like most creatures, the aliens need to rest. She tells Youngheart to get some rest; they have some big planning to do. Ripley departs and walks past Elvis.

Elvis tells Ripley he is sorry for what he said about her earlier. He's just on the edge and wants to survive. She tells him not to worry about it and to just get some rest.

Ripley sits and she makes herself comfortable before she goes to sleep.

Directly across from her, Welden is sitting with his ankle elevated. He seems very relaxed and has a smug look on his face. Welden asks "So tell me Ripley…..why did you come back?" She responds **(with something smart)** then closes her eyes.

The next morning, the group is discussing yesterday's events. Ripley mentions whatever placed the device on the Gantry, is likely to do so again or worst. She says whoever is flying that ship knew exactly how to agitate the aliens.

Daris then mentions the device may have been placed by the humanoid Welden and he encountered at the pyramid. Daris starts to explain but Welden interrupts, trying to change the subject. Ripley asks Welden did they encounter another alien being inside the pyramid. He tries to downplay it and explains they saw something.

Ripley tells Welden to talk about what happened. Elvis and Tarot walk over to Welden and order him to start talking. He says the humanoid seemed to appear, after he accessed a device inside the pyramid. Ripley says if they succeeded in freeing the shuttle, the creature may attempt at sabotaging their escape.

Elvis says he doesn't think the creature wants them to leave. That's why it sent the aliens to attack the Gantry. It's like they have seen and now know too much!

Youngheart says maybe the creature feels that if they leave, others might come.

Ripley says they have to stop it, before it stops them. Welden disagrees and says they are dealing with a highly intelligent species. It has advanced weapons beyond their capability. He suggests they should attempt at using some form of communication.

Elvis then plays out a scenario and says "Oh...so we're going to say this was all a BIG misunderstanding! We didn't mean to land on YOUR planet and STEAL those eggs! We were just PASSING through your galaxy!" Elvis tells Welden he can have fun communicating with the humanoid.

Ripley confirms with Daris the creature appeared when the device was activated. Daris says he thinks the creature appeared because it may have thought the device had malfunctioned. Ripley says they are going to use the device to set a trap. Youngheart asks Ripley what's her plan. Ripley says get to it, before it gets to them. Elvis agrees.

Ripley, Youngheart, Elvis, Jax and Daris "gear-up" to go to the pyramid, while Tarot and Welden remain aboard the Gantry. Before leaving, Elvis sarcastically asks Welden if he wants to give the humanoid a message. Attending to his ankle, Welden doesn't look at Elvis and holds up his middle finger. Elvis chuckles to himself. Jax asks Tarot to monitor any changes made to the Gantry's power levels.

Daris and the group arrive at the pyramid. They begin to observe and marvel over its design. Elvis wonders how long it has been there. Jax says "They don't make them like this anymore." Ripley instructs Elvis and Jax to take position outside of the pyramid. She wants to be contacted when the creature appears.

Daris leads the remaining group into the pyramid and toward the column device. Ripley asks Daris what he and Welden were doing, before the creature arrived. Daris stands near the column and says Welden reached its top, by standing on his shoulders. He says Welden was doing something, but he could not see.

Youngheart volunteers to try and activate the column device. She hangs her assault rifle strap on her shoulder. Daris kneels down as Youngheart proceeds to step upon his shoulders. Daris then slowly stands up, enabling Youngheart to reach the top of the column. Ripley asks her what she sees. She says a large round thing and some weird- looking buttons.

Youngheart stares at the large orb and asks what is she supposed to do?

Ripley tells her to start touching and pushing on everything. Youngheart starts rubbing her hand over the orb, while touching and turning the knobs. After ten seconds, Youngheart says she doesn't think she is doing it right. She then rests her hand on the orb.

Suddenly, a large holographic image of the universe appears. Youngheart looks up and says she thinks she's got it. They all stare at the image in amazement.

Ripley tells her to start moving her hands again. Youngheart runs her hand over the orb and various unknown constellations begin to appear.

Tarot is sitting near a monitor, watching the ship's system levels. A blip sound comes from the monitor alerting a change in levels. Welden hears the sound and limps over toward Tarot. Welden asks Tarot what he sees on the screen. Tarot says the Gantry's power levels have increased to 55 percent. He says power seems to be returning to the ship.

Welden moves closer to Tarot and asks him what he thinks about their chances. Still facing the monitor, Tarot says he thinks they could stand a chance at making it off the planet. Tarot turns around and Welden strikes him in the head with a blunt object. Tarot is out cold and slumps down in the seat. Welden then makes his way towards the entry door and exits the ship.

Youngheart continues as images and schematics of various alien lifeforms appear. Jax asks Elvis what the group could be doing inside the pyramid. Elvis says he doesn't know and wants to check it out. Jax tells him to go and see, he'll cover for him. Elvis slowly walks inside the pyramid.

Youngheart then comes across schematic images of an alien egg, a facehugger and a warrior alien. Ripley's eyes begin to widen as she stares at the images. Youngheart asks if she should continue to search for more images. Ripley tells her not to search for anymore. Youngheart looks at Ripley as she glares at the images before her.

The humanoid's ship lands not far from the pyramid. Jax is outside the pyramid, asking Elvis about what he sees. Elvis tells him he sees a cool lightshow and that he (Jax) is missing out. Jax says to himself, he always misses the good s**t!

Suddenly, Jax hears heavy footsteps approaching the pyramid. He contacts Elvis and tells him he hears something big heading towards them. Elvis runs back to Jax and they quickly take cover. Jax reports to Ripley the creature is heading towards the pyramid. She confirms and tells them to standby.

Ripley informs the others the creature is heading their way. Youngheart quickly climbs down from the column and the group searches for places to hide. The footsteps get closer and the group readies their weapons. Elvis and Jax watch as the lumbering creature passes by them. There eyes are widened with amazement and fear.

As the creature enters into the pyramid, Welden appears from outside, yelling and trying to get the humanoid's attention. Jax asks Elvis what is he doing there, he's going to get them all killed.

The humanoid stops in its tracks and slowly turns around. Welden limps on his crutch and into the pyramid. As he gets closer to the creature, he explains that a trap is being set for it. He says they are from across the universe, seeking knowledge and understanding. The creature slowly walks over to him and stands still.

Welden wants to know if the creature will share its secrets with humankind and to help create a bigger and better universe. Jax and Elvis hold their positions as well as the others. Welden limps closer to the creature and asks if it understands him.

The humanoid grabs hold of Welden, picks him up and violently throws him into a side wall. Welden falls to the ground….dead. Ripley then yells for the group to

open fire. Ripley and Youngheart spring up from hiding and begin to fire upon the humanoid. Jax and Elvis come out from hiding and join in the assault.

A barrage of bullets hits the creature in multiple areas of its body. It shrieks in pain as it tries to counterattack with a weapon of its own. The creature begins to stumble around, firing off its weapon. The blast from the weapon strikes the walls of the pyramid, causing them to weaken.

As the group continues to fire, the humanoid begins to crash into the pyramid walls. The walls of the pyramid begin to come down as it stumbles to regain its balance. Ripley realizes if they don't make a quick escape, they will be trapped inside. She yells for the group to run. Ripley, Youngheart and Daris make a run for it.

Ripley and the group dodge past the creature as the face of the structure comes down. She turns around and yells for Daris to hurry out of the pyramid. Daris dodges a piece of debris that almost falls on him. The structure falls directly on the humanoid. A huge cloud of smoke bellows, chasing the group away as they flee for safety.

When the dust begins to settle, the front of the pyramid has completely collapsed. The group coughs as the dust cloud clears away. There is no sign of the humanoid. Only a burial mound of rubble remains.

Jax notices that Elvis has taken a hit from friendly fire. Ripley asks him how bad the wound is. Holding his hand over his pelvis area, he says he will survive. Jax helps up Elvis and the group heads back to the Gantry.

Youngheart radios for Tarot to open the entry door. Tarot opens the door while holding an ice pack on the back of his head. The group enters the ship and Tarot asks Elvis what happened to him. Elvis says "What do you think happen? I got shot!" Elvis asks Tarot what happened to his head.

Tarot says Welden attacked him and asks for him. Ripley mentions he is dead. Tarot replies, "He got lucky." Jax and Youngheart help Elvis into sick bay, while Ripley follows behind. They leave Daris and Tarot in the control area.

Daris walks over to the monitor and looks at the system's power level. The Gantry's power system has increased to 70 percent. Daris then sits down in front of the monitor and begins to type on its key plate. Tarot notices Daris is doing a large amount of typing. He asks what Daris is doing and slowly walks over to him. Daris doesn't respond and begins to type faster.

Daris appears to have hacked into the Gantry's computer system. Tarot walks up next to Daris and asks him again. Daris doesn't reply and continues to type. Tarot looks at the monitor and reads the words "Initiating Final Detonation Sequence". With a puzzled look, Tarot asks "What the hell are you doing?"

Daris responds he is blowing up the ship. Tarot reaches over to stop Daris from typing. Daris strikes Tarot in the throat with an open-handed strike. Tarot slowly falls to the floor, trying to catch his breath. Daris finishes typing and presses the 'Enter" button on the key plate.

Ripley and the others are in the sick bay attending to Elvis' wound. A loud female voice is heard announcing, "This is a warning. Detonation of G, Zero, Zero, One, Four, Nine, Five will begin in T-Minus twenty minutes and counting." The group hears the announcement and wonders what is going on.

The message repeats again followed by the sound of a klaxxon alarm.

Ripley says to the group something is wrong and they all, except for Elvis, race out of the sick bay. The group arrives in the control area and sees Tarot lying on the ground. He is trying to crawl away from Daris.

Youngheart asks Daris what is going on and is he trying to blow up the ship? Daris says he is destroying the ship. He says he couldn't do it earlier because the Gantry's systems power was too low. He had to wait till it could reach 70 percent or more to achieve full detonation.

Ripley asks why. He says he cannot allow them to return after all they have discovered. He says he was programmed to protect humanity from endangering itself.

Ripley then identifies Daris as being an Auton. Jax asks what Ripley is talking about.

Ripley says Daris is a second generation android created by other androids. She says she has met one before, but it was more compassionate than Daris. He must be an older unit.

The female voice announces there is fifteen minutes left before detonation.

Youngheart says the Antilles wasn't attacked. Daris sabotaged it, causing the ship to crash on this planet. Daris says Youngheart is correct; he couldn't allow any success to come of that mission.

Daris says they won't be able to leave the planet, but he has allowed them enough time to escape detonation. He tells Ripley he has displayed a sense of compassion for them. A bullet hits Daris in the middle of his forehead and he falls down to the floor. Elvis is holding a handgun in his hand. He answers"Compassion that, asshole!"

Jax quickly runs over to the monitor and starts typing on the key plate.

Ripley asks him if he can stop the detonation. Jax says he can't, Daris has encrypted the system so it can't be hacked. Elvis asks what they should do. Jax says the ship's power levels are up to 70 percent, so the emergency escape doors should be operational.

Youngheart tells the group to hurry into the docking bay. Jax helps up Tarot and says "The human mind is still better than an android!"

The group makes it to the docking bay. Jax boards the shuttle and engages its engines. Youngheart and Ripley help Tarot onto the shuttle. Elvis runs over to a glass case with two large red buttons inside. He breaks the glass and pushes the top red button.

Elvis begins to hoot and celebrate as lights flash and the doors begin to lift open. Suddenly, the doors abruptly stop from opening as a strange grinding sound is heard. Elvis looks up and begins to frantically push the top button. The doors try to open, but something seems to be jamming them. He begins to freak out after the female voice announces there is ten minutes left.

After watching Elvis' actions, Youngheart mentions that something is wrong. Ripley and Youngheart exit the shuttle to find out what happened. They approach Elvis and he explains that something is keeping the doors from opening. Ripley volunteers to go up and see what is causing the problem.

One of the ascension guns is still attached to the Gantry's hull. Ripley exits the entry door and quickly climbs the cable. As she continues to climb, she hears something flying towards the Gantry. It is the humanoid's ship, flying unbalanced and very erratically. Ripley quickly shimmies her way to the top.

The humanoid crash lands its ship on top of the Gantry. It slowly gets out of the ship's cockpit. While heading towards the emergency doors, Ripley turns around to look at the creature. It is physically injured and breathing heavily. It slowly begins to walk towards Ripley.

Ripley runs over to the emergency doors and sees a set charge stuck in the corner of one of the doors. She doesn't try to pull it out because it could detonate, causing the door to become inoperable. She runs to an opened space between the doors and yells down to Elvis to close them. The creature continues to stumble its way towards Ripley.

Elvis is having a hard time understanding, due to the loud klaxxon alarm.

Ripley then makes an open and closing motion with her hands. Elvis seems to understand and presses the bottom button to close the doors. The creature is still coming towards Ripley.

Ripley quickly runs back to the set charge and removes it just before the doors begin to reopen. The doors completely open and Elvis boards the shuttle. He yells for Jax to lift-off and the shuttle begins to slowly hover upward.

Youngheart tells Jax they have to get Ripley. He says they can pick her up from the top of the ship. Ripley knows she has to distract the creature, in order to buy the shuttle some time. She walks towards the creature and stands in front of it. She is still holding the set charge in her hand.

The creature tries to swat at Ripley and misses. It continues to go after her, but she is too quick and agile for it. The shuttle finally exits the Gantry and Jax sees the creature in front of Ripley and curses. Ripley quickly looks behind her and then sets the charge.

The shuttle then hovers over to one side of the Gantry. Elvis and Youngheart yell for Ripley to jump towards the shuttle. Elvis says he will catch her. Ripley then makes a remark to the humanoid and tosses the set charge; it lands at the creature's feet.

Ripley then makes a running leap off of the gantry. As she leaps, with her arms extended, Elvis grabs Ripley by one of her arms. The shuttle pulls away as the set charge explodes, blowing apart the humanoid.

As the shuttle flies away, the female voice begins a countdown from ten to one. After reaching one, the Gantry begins to blow up by section. The explosive shocks shake the fleeing shuttle and causes Elvis to lose his grip on Ripley's arm. He is holding her by one of her hands.

Youngheart watches as Elvis tells Ripley to give him her other hand. She looks down, then looks up at Elvis and then at Youngheart. She stares at her for a few seconds and smiles. Ripley then starts to loosen her grip from Elvis' hand. Elvis yells out that Ripley is slipping from his grip. She then lets go and falls from the shuttle.

Youngheart screams out Ripley's name as she falls. A look of shock fills Elvis and Youngheart's face. Ripley drops into a large lake of water. Youngheart orders Jax to take the shuttle down, over to where Ripley had fallen. Jax complies and the shuttle hovers over the area Ripley was last seen.

Seconds turns into minutes, as the shuttle hovers over the lake. To no avail, Ripley seems to be gone. Elvis tells Youngheart that Ripley is gone, but she doesn't want to believe it. Youngheart breaks down and begins to cry on Elvis' shoulder. Elvis puts both his arms around her and hugs her tightly.

Jax exclaims it would be best to leave, before any unwanted visitors decides to show up. The shuttle's hatch closes shut and then flies off towards the sky. Underneath the trees near the lake, Ripley watches as the shuttle flies off.

She continues to look up at the sky and smiles. She turns around from where she is standing and makes her way through the bushes and trees in front of her. She disappears into the jungle brush.

End.

1


End file.
